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Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:56:46 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/Comment on On Steinbrenner by Seinfeld: George Steinbrenner’s “Billy Martin” Rant | Snafu Bloghttps://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/on-steinbrenner/#comment-492
Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:56:46 +0000http://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/?p=2540#comment-492[…] On Steinbrenner « The Icepick Cometh […]
]]>Comment on On Steinbrenner by The Icepickhttps://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/on-steinbrenner/#comment-491
Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:18:27 +0000http://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/?p=2540#comment-491@Slamdunk: Thanks for reading, and completely agree. He certainly gave us a lot to think about. I sat down for about 5 minutes, and then wrote an addendum, because, as you correctly point out, the man and his legend was so complex. Doubt we’ll see another like him.
]]>Comment on On Steinbrenner by Slamdunkhttps://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/on-steinbrenner/#comment-490
Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:00:05 +0000http://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/?p=2540#comment-490Good post. Steinbrenner’s legend is complex–as the man was.
]]>Comment on Maybe they’ll next push for a different Jefferson on the $2 bill by Icepickhttps://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/maybe-theyll-next-push-for-a-different-jefferson-on-the-2-bill/#comment-475
Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:51:03 +0000http://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/?p=2244#comment-475Nice site. No links to the curriculum itself, though. Makes it easier to cherry-pick your own facts to state, don’t you think? I’m happy to do that myself, Mr. FactStater, with a link to boot:

To wit, my very own cherry-picking from the high school curriculum edits:

“Describe how McCarthyism, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the arms race, and the space race increased Cold War tensions and how the later release of the Venona Papers confirmed suspicions of communist infiltration in U.S. government.”

But nothing about how McCarthy’s persecution of innocent American citizens ruined lives and careers?

“describe … John F. Kennedy’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis”

But the only direct mention of Richard M. Nixon is his “leadership role in the normalization of relations with China and the policy of détente.” Though Texas wins a point for including Watergate as just another apparently routine scandal, mentioned second in a sentence following the Teapot Dome Scandal, but, hey, there it is right before the Clinton impeachment.

“(D)escribe the causes, key organizations, and individuals of the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract with America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority, and the National Rifle Association;”

Nice add. I’d probably do the same if I held as good a hand as Texas’. Still, to their credit, there were no apparent additions to refer to dinosaurs as Jesus horses. Perhaps they can play that card in the next round.

And, really, what did poor Bob LaFollette do to the Lone Star State to make them pull him out of the curriculum? I am, however, surprised by the deletion of H. Ross Perot. Was that a make-up call?

I’m puzzled about deleting the suggestion (apparently not even a requirement) that “Selections may include a biography of Dwight Eisenhower, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, and Martin Luther King’s letter from the Birmingham City Jail.”

Was it Ike?

Look, Texas can teach its students whatever it wants, as skewed as I and others may think it is. Facts are facts, but as this debate demonstrates, facts (and history) can skew toward a person’s (or entire state’s) bias. That’s Texas’ prerogative. But thanks to the greed-soaked textbook corporations, the rest of the country is forced to follow their lead, since Texas’ buying power dictates what content the textbook companies publish. I’m sure Texas would have the same problem if the City of San Francisco somehow hit the galactic lottery and suddenly had greater buying power than the Lone Star State. Just sayin’.

]]>Comment on Maybe they’ll next push for a different Jefferson on the $2 bill by Anonymoushttps://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/maybe-theyll-next-push-for-a-different-jefferson-on-the-2-bill/#comment-474
Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:45:25 +0000http://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/?p=2244#comment-474For the real facts about the Texas Social Studies standards, go to http://www.juststatethefacts.com.
]]>Comment on First Gen X president-elect by Carolynhttps://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/first-gen-x-president-elect/#comment-395
Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:53:04 +0000http://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/?p=936#comment-395Yeah, I’m an “Xer” and I’ve always found those born in the 60’s to be a whole other animal than those born in the 40’s or 50’s, so I think that it’s probably a fair dividing line if there must be one.

I think he is on the right track…trying to fix the Reaganomics – been waiting for my “trickle” to trickle down since 1984, when I turned 18. Thing is, gotta turn on the faucet just a little to get a trickle. If you stick a cork in the end, no trickle.

I think I see a drip….. 8)

]]>Comment on Oscars, John Hughes, and generations by jenhttps://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/oscars-john-hughes-and-generations/#comment-392
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:49:19 +0000http://theicepickcometh.wordpress.com/?p=2235#comment-392Of course, i loved John Hughes, but my fave all-time movie of his is Planes, Trains and Automobiles.